Very red white and royal blue. Cute story. I wish it was spicier just because I am a slut for spice but all in all it's a cute story. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

Sara Raasch’s new book is a majestic blend of fantasy, holiday themes, and LGBTQ+ romance. It is an elegant equation — The Nightmare Before Christmas + Rise of the Guardians + Casey McQuiston = THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE KISSMAS, a.k.a. The holiday LGBTQ+ romance of your dreams.

Raasch accomplishes 2 feats with this novel — she challenges the Disney-fication of Santa Claus, with its excessive Tim Allen projects, making the mythical figure and his family more human, more real. Second, Raasch was clearly just having a lot of fun when writing. And that really comes through the prose. A lot of writers seem to have forgotten that it’s okay to have fun when telling a story. Thank goodness Raasch hasn’t. That’s why I am already looking forward to the next book in this series.

Brava, Ms. Raasch.

I never knew what people meant when they said they were "giggling and kicking their little feet while reading a book". Now I 1000% understand since that was my whole time listening to this book! There was a lot more of a plot that I anticipated and I really thought it was a wonderful story. We get to watch Coal figure out what he wants in life. And Hex is the sweetest most supportive boy. I seriously loved this book and I can't wait to see what happens in the next book! The narrator was so good! He didn't change his voice a lot for different characters but he was so passionate. He was acting more than just reading off a page and that was defiantly a bonus! If you want a fun holiday romance about the holiday's royal families I HIGHLY recommend!

Rating: Loved It, 4.5 stars

I had such a good time with this book! It was fun and had me cracking up at times! I heard about this book and knew I absolutely had to read it! In this, the crown prince of Christmas falls for the crown prince of Halloween while they are both pretending to compete for the hand of the princess of Easter.

I really enjoyed Coal's antics and being in his head. His narration had me laughing out loud as I read, and I just had so much fun learning about this secret world of holiday royals. I loved the depth to this one too. Coal was so sincere and earnest, which was just lovely. I was rooting for him and Hex, but also for him and his brother as they plotted a way to make Christmas great again.

Overall, such a fun time, and the audiobook really emphasized how much heart the story has to it.

Thanks to Bramble and Netgalley for an advance audiobook copy. The Nightmare Before Kissmas releases on October 8, 2024. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book, while not perfect, was such a stupid fun time and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’ve also already recommended it to other people.

I was originally interested in this book due to the comparisons to Red, White & Royal Blue (a book/movie I loved) and The Nightmare Before Christmas (a movie I’ve heard a lot about, but never seen), but I think the characters are the true selling point. Due to Raasch’s great characterization, and an EXCELLENT performance by Ellis Evans, Coal really seemed to leap off the page and felt like an actual person.

While I loved the characters, I felt as though the plot ended up being a little underwhelming. The romance felt a little insta-love, and I almost would have preferred a dual POV so we could get some more insight into Hex. Where Coal felt fully realized, I think Hex could have benefited from a bit more characterization. The other issue I had was the choice to only focus on holidays that are big in the United States. I think including other holidays (like Eid, Diwali, Holi, Rosh Hashanah, etc) would have made this fantastical world where Holidays are magical places feel even more cemented in reality.

With other books coming in the Royals and Romance series, I’m hopeful that there’s time for these other holidays to be brought into the fold and given a place among the courts of Easter, Halloween and Christmas.

P.S. Not sure how to rework this into the review, but I also really loved what Sara Raasch had to say about joy and all the ways it affects us. One of my favorite lines was when Hex described Halloween as "finding joy in the terrifying" and "finding joy in what's gone".

The Nightmare Before Kissmas was still a great listening experience and I am actively looking forward to next year’s Go Luck Yourself.

Take two of my favorite holidays and squish them together! Yes, please! This was an adorable and sexy version of the Nightmare Before Christmas. Everything I read was saying it as Nightmare Before Christmas meets Red, White, and Royal Blue and that is exactly what we got. The banter was great the spice was sexy and very sweet at the same time. The tension in this book was wonderful. I loved all the characters and I can't wait to see what happens in the rest of the series.

I was able to listen to alc, the narrator did a fanstic job pulling you in, however with any romance I do prefer for it to be dual pov narration. While the book started out great, and I was really sucked in at the beginning, it really lack luster at the end. I was fine with Santa being the actual villian in this story,but it just got to be too much at the end.

3.5 stars

This one was such an addicting listen! Narrated by Ellis Evans, I was completely hooked with these characters! I enjoyed Ellis tones and inflections used throughout the story. They were spot on.

I found myself very intrigued with this bad boy who gets in trouble by his dad all the time. I was also intrigued with Coal's backstory with their mom, and I adored his friendship with his friend and brother. Their group chats and headings always made me giggle. Hex is Halloween's hottie, and someone that Coal has been looking for. It's an adorable Halloween/Christmas story that will want you to curl up on the couch and read/listen all day.

Book Review 📖🍂✨

The Nightmare Before Kissmas
by Sara Raasch

Thank you so much partner @brambleromance @macmillan.audio for the gifted copy and audiobook!

About the book 👇🏽

Coal might be the Prince of Christmas but he’d honestly rather skip it this year. Wouldn’t you when your father, the reigning Santa, has turned it into nothing more than the family’s latest PR stunt?

But Coal has gotten into one scrape too many and there’s a surprise in store: a marriage to his best friend to unite their families in the perfect holiday photo moment.

Then a rival arrives to challenge Coal for the princess’ hand and he’s suddenly face to face with a past mistake: Hex, the deliciously handsome Prince of Halloween.

Scuppering Santa's plans and falling for Christmas's biggest rival would be a complete disaster... wouldn't it?

🎄🎃 My thoughts:

Ugh I loved this holiday mash up!! There was no pause for this book, I was either reading it or listening to it, never coming up for air. Both versions were so good and held my attention until it was over. I have never read a romcom quite like this but man was it good! The magical aspects of each holiday made this book even more enticing and engaging for me. And I won’t even lie… when Coal and Kris (The Claus boys) had a deep conversation… I totally teared up. This story has so much heart and it a story about family, friends, joy, and the true magic of the holidays. What a gift to have been able to read this one early! I should mention that it’s also a little sexy, a lot quirky, and completely hexing. Once you start, you won’t be able to stop! The Nightmare Before Kissmas is out 10/8/24!!

Happy reading 📖 🎃✨🎄

#Macaudio2024

This was a really cute, but also surprisingly emotional read. Nick aka Coal (the Prince of Christmas) meets Hex (the Prince of Halloween) one drunken night at the bar, and then that’s all he can think about for the next year and a half. Coal and Hex reunite unexpectedly when their “courts” meet to arrange a marriage (not between he and Hex) and work some other things out. I loved getting to see Coal and Hex fight their attraction and really get to know each-other through talks about their lives and spending time together sleigh riding and other things. Although this is a romance read, there is quite a bit of conversation between Coal and his brother Kris about the damage their mother leaving caused and it really got me all in my feels. Kris is such a sweetheart and it’s heartbreaking at times to hear how desperate he still is for his mom to want to come back to them and actually be a caring mom. The further the book progressed the more meaningful and eye opening Coal and Hex’s interactions were and the narrator (I did audio and e-ARC) did a wonderful job of portraying both men’s emotions and hesitations to give in to their feelings.

I LOVED this listen it was super fun and I loved the union story line as well as the romance plot. I'm super excited for this series and can't wait for book 2!!

🎧Audio Review🎧

I am a such huge fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas, so I was immediately sold after reading the blurb and knew I needed to request an ALC. Ellis Evans does a great job with the narration. I do wish there would have been multiple POVS, as I would have liked to know what Hex was thinking and feeling at times, but I still thought this story was quirky and adorable, and I liked the fact that the spice wasn’t overdone.

Look, this plot is absolutely banana-bonkers, like I don't even know how Sara Raasch came up with this craziness. But these characters are so delightfully EARNEST and charming that I could not put this book down- read it in one go. Coal is such a romantic sap and Hex!!!! He deserves that big romantic sap being absolutely obsessed with him.

I NEED the second book. Kris was silently put through it and I need to see him get his HEA with an Irish hottie, okay?

Ellis Evans CRUSHED this performance. 10/10 audiobook narration.

I guess I had a vague picture in my mind of what this book was going to be and I was way off. But I'm not entirely sure that this book knows what it is supposed to be either. At the very least I wanted some holiday vibes, but I didn't even really get that. Yes there is hot chocolate and sleigh rides but all of the cozy vibes were zapped by the holiday imperialist machine plot - so it almost felt like the holidays were corporate and menacing. The 'holiday families' were very high court, marry off my daughter to strengthen my alliance, I will expand my empire, dramatic. Not at all what I was expecting. Also, the main characters aren't enemies so the enemies-to-lovers trope doesn't apply. The book oscillated from 'fey court drama' to 'campy holiday romance' and it really never fell into step with either. This was a good idea but it just didn't quite land. Ellis Evans was a good narrator and filled the dialogue with humor and emotion. Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

No tricks here, this was a delightful little Halloweeny Christmasy treat! I very much enjoyed the idea that holidays are like their own nations. I would love another book that goes more into Halloweens town/domain! I did see a second book is coming out for Kris that deals with St. Patrick’s Day and I can’t wait to read that and maybe something that focuses on Iris and Easter in the future too!?! Obviously it’s easy to get invested in these characters! And I 100% agree with its Red, White, and Royal Blue + Nightmare Before Christmas mash up claims! Will be recommending this to everyone when it comes out!

Thank you to the author, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the eARC!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and Bramble for the complimentary audiobook. These opinions are my own.

This book was a delight. As you might guess from the cover, it gave me all the holiday feels. It especially focuses on Coal, the Prince of Christmas. He is always getting in trouble and thwarting his father's efforts to train him to be Santa. But his heart's in the right place. And the love interest is Hex, the Prince of Halloween.

I enjoyed both characters and their great conversations. I would like a bit more relationship development in lieu of a few steamy scenes, but overall I appreciated the pacing and character growth.

My favorite aspects of the book were how relevant it felt outside of either a royal household or a holiday land. So much focused on parental expectations and the family business. Coal hoped to shift the meaning of Christmas to focus more on joy and less on consumer commodification.

Coal's friend circle was amazing, and makes me eager for more books in this Royals and Romance series.

I appreciated Ellis Evans' phenomenal narration. It added the holiday spirit so well.

4.25 stars

I was ready to eat this book up! It sounded so adorable and I really love a good holiday romcom. Unfortunately the execution fell a little flat.

The narrator was excellent and if I was rating on audiobook performance alone it would be a much higher rating.

I think some of my issue with this book is a me problem and not the book’s problem but I was uninterested in the uber rich holiday royals and them living lavish lives.

The book as a while read a lot more YA than I would have liked for an adult book (aside from the spice, although even that was rather tame for an adult book).

For a romcom book the amount of politics felt overdone. The whiplash between all holiday politics and then all romance was a bit jarring. I wish there was more of a happy median.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillian Audio for sending this book (eARC) for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

To be honest, Ellis Evans could read me a grocery list and I would love it 🤣

I will say that I much preferred the audio to the book itself, but regardless The Nightmare Before Kissmas was a silly good time, and I loved every slow burn minute of Coal and Hex’s story!

Thank you so much Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC! Yall made me a happy, happy girl!

The Nightmare Before Kissmas is a book I knew I needed when I saw it pitched as Red, White & Royal Blue meets The Nightmare Before Christmas. I was thankful that I had an eARC and ALC of this one. Once I sat down to read this one, I just couldn't put it down. The amazing story and narration by Ellis Evans had me hooked. I read it in one sitting. The audiobook made reading this book an even better experience. Ellis Evans was able to really bring this story to life and I need more books with this narrator.

My favorite holiday is Christmas, so our main character Prince Nicholas had my attention from the start. He seems to be a bit of a bad boy, but he really just wants to do right by his people. He stole my heart from the start and we see so much from him. Add in a fake relationship and a connection to Prince of Halloween that's not allowed and this was just everything. The Nightmare Before Kissmas had me laughing out loud and even wiping away a few tears. This book has family, friendship, holiday spirits, grief, and so much more.

The romance has a bit of a slow burn, but it works. The spicy scenes are classy and don't take over the story. We have characters who are fighting for their own holidays and just want their people to be happy. My favorite part was when Prince Nicholas and Kris decided to change a boring political dinner and make it a Christmas movie marathon. It's all about the spirit that makes Christmas amazing.

All of these characters were so much fun! It's hard for me to put everything into words, because I loved it so much. I'll be anxiously awaiting the next book in this series to release. I'm so excited about Kris' story.

My review will also be posted on https://thebookdutchesses.com on November 21st.

Thank you NetGalley for an ALC of The Nightmare before Kissmas in exchange of my honest opinion.

Coal is the prince of Christmas, but has lost his love for the holiday when the main focus of it became materialistic things. This was a powermove from his dad to make Christmas the most important holiday of the year. To make things worse, it has been announced that Coal will be "competing" to marry the Easter Princess, Iris with the the Prince of Halloween. However, that was not the first time he has met Halloween's Prince, Hex.

I really enjoyed the grumpy x sunshine from the main couple Hex and Coal in this book. Coal is immature, rash and a bit self centered, although he has good intentions. Hex is quiet, introspective but is eager to act on his feelings to Coal.
The sibling bond between Coal and Kris could have been better explored and I would love to see more interactions between Kris and Iris.

The story of the book flows well and we have a lot of deeper conversations about class difference, the meaning of traditions and greed in a way that was lighthearted but earnest.

Lastly the narrator of this book did a great job in bringing the dialogue to life! it portrayed this opposite personalities of the main characters in a very interesting way and kept my attention throughout the whole book even in moments that I would feel the pacing was slightly slower have I read it in physical format.

Overall a cute and fun read for the holiday season!